Calvary Road
by LadyCordeliaStuart
Summary: I did wrong by my SYOT submission Calvary Warsaw, so I made this to put her where she belongs: with the rest of my Victors. Follow Calvary through a Games as unique as she is.
1. Chapter 1

Rose Snow

My father was a very important man. Most of the time he was busy and I hardly got to see him, but this was no ordinary day. This was my birthday, and I knew he had something wonderful planned for me. Last year he got me the biggest pink diamond that One had mined all year. It was really pretty, and he hollowed it out so I could put my jewelry in it. This year was going to be just as good.

I got up extra early, even though I didn't have to go to school, but I knew he'd already be up. He always got up before it was even light, because he liked to play in his garden before he had to be President. It was all roses in there, the same ones he named me after. I slid open the glass door and looked around the bushes until I found him.

"Guess what day it is?" I said as I ran at him and wrapped my arms around his waist. He plucked a flower from a bush and tucked it behind my ear.

"Is it someone's birthday?" he asked. "Someone certainly looks a little older and a little wiser."

"I don't feel any older," I said. Ten was a big deal. I had two numbers in my age now, and soon I'd turn into a young lady. I wasn't ready to be a grown-up yet, though. I was okay with staying a little kid for a while longer. Grownups got boring birthday presents, like coffee pots.

Dad took my hand and we sat together on a marble bench in his garden. I pulled petals from a drooping rose nearby and dangled my feet.

"I suppose you'll expect a present just for getting another year older," Dad said. I giggled and put my hands to my face.

"That's the rules," I said.

"Even the president must follow that rule," Dad said. He pretended to look through his pockets. "Oh dear, there's nothing there."

"It's too big," I guessed. "Is it an elephant?"

"It's something even better," Dad said. "Something so good I couldn't wrap it. Rose, this year I have gotten you a spectacle."

"Spectacles?" I scrunched my face in disappointment. "I don't need glasses. I see fine."

"Not _spectacles._ A _spectacle,"_ Dad said. "The bedrock of our nation. Bread and circuses."

I liked circuses, but I saw those all the time. Last year I had one for my party. There were balloons and clowns and a tiger I could ride. Maybe that was part of the present, but that wasn't all of it.

"Do you know what the best part of being president is?" Dad said.

"You can do whatever you want," I said.

"That's precisely right. But not today. Today is your birthday, and you can do anything _you_ want. You can have anything you want. You can have any _one_ you want," Dad said.

"You can't buy people," I said. What would I do with one anyway? Everyone in Panem loved me. They gave me free stuff and they were always nice to me.

"You like games, don't you?" Dad asked.

"I like capture the flag best," I said.

"You like Hunger Games too, don't you?" Dad asked.

"I wanted River to win, but it was still good," I said. "Is that part of the present? I don't want to go into the Hunger Games."

"Of course you shall not. Hunger Games come once a year, but your tenth birthday comes only once. So there shall be another, entirely for you," Dad said.

"You got me a Hunger Games for my birthday?" I asked. I _did_ like all the excitement and fuss the Games brought. It was very special to have it all happen again just for me.

"A very special Hunger Games. For a little girl that is ten years old, there shall be ten Tributes. You can pick which ones we bring back for a chance to make a birthday girl very happy. You shall decide the Arena and you shall be present for every step of the process," Dad said. Right away I started thinking of who I'd pick. There were so many I liked.

"Can I ride in the parade?" I asked.

"It's your Games," Dad said.

"Can I meet all the Tributes?" I asked.

"It's your Games," Dad said. I jumped up and tossed a rose into the air excitedly.

"This is going to be the best birthday ever," I said. It was no wonder my father was president. He was the greatest man in the country.

* * *

 **I tried to do the math and I think it makes sense that Snow's daughter would be ten around this time assuming his granddaughter is about 12 during the 74th Games. There was no info on his daughter so I named her Rose since fans usually say that's his granddaughter's name and I thought it could be a legacy name.**


	2. Lucky Ten

My father didn't like me to be on camera too much, but of course it had to happen sometimes, so I was used to it. I'd met Polyphemus plenty of times, but this time was extra special. I was wearing my new birthday dress I picked out. It was pale peach, my favorite color, and it had little gemstones sewed around the neck and the bottom. It puffed out like a cake topper. My hair was in a bun like a lovely young lady and there was a rose in it, of course. My shoes had pretty ribbons like a ballerina. I had rainbow glitter on my cheeks and light pink eyeshadow and lipstick. Polyphemus looked okay, too.

"Here she is, Panem's sweetheart!" he said when he saw me. I wasn't sure if it was going to be him or the new guy interviewing me, but it looked the the new guy wasn't ready yet, and he only did the Tributes anyway. Polyphemus did Capitol people. "Happy birthday, young lady."

"Thanks," I said.

"And how old are you?" he asked, like everyone didn't know.

"I'm ten," I said, and I held up both hands like a little kid. It was just so people in the back could hear. They all cheered, and some of them threw flowers and presents on the stage. It was very nice of them, and I'd pick them all when I left. There was no such thing as too many birthday presents.

"Happy birthday again and many more," Polyphemus said. "I hope it's been a good one."

"It has, but you should get to work," I said. I was getting antsy. I wanted to tell everyone who I'd picked. Polyphemus laughed.

"The First Lady has spoken!" he said. "We're most excited to see you, of course, but we _do_ want to know who you've picked for this very special, this _most_ special, of Hunger Games."

Daddy said I should announce it all fancy, so I'd thought up little speeches for each pick. I'd thought long and hard about it, too. There were so many to pick from, and I had so many favorites.

"I'll say them in order of District to make it easier on you," I said.

"Such a class act," Polyphemus said. Fireworks and confetti danced on the screen behind me as the technicians waited to broadcast the first name.

"I picked the first one because she was a great fighter and she's really pretty. I also wanted someone who would be a fun friend, since the Victor is part of the present. Number one is Emma Wolfe," I said. Her name flashed behind me and fanfare blared.

"A wonderful choice! Who's next?" Polyphemus asked.

"I picked the next one because he's cute. But don't tell him, because I'm too young to date," I said. Everyone laughed. "Two is Rapture Kai."

"I think I can guess who three is," Polyphemus said.

"It's not Diamond, if that's what you think. She's not cute," I said. Polyphemus laughed again and I was starting to suspect he thought I didn't know he was acting. Kids aren't as dumb as grownups think.

"Next I picked someone really smart and really cool. If we were friends, we could make all kinds of trouble," I said. "My third pick is Mei Cheung."

"No more Careers?" Polyphemus asked.

"They're so bossy and loud," I said.

"Here's a girl who knows what she wants!" Polyphemus said to the crowd.

"My next two picks are both from Six. I picked one because he seemed fun to play with and one because she's so nice and sweet. I picked Jonathan Wright and Aimee Anderson," I said.

"I remember her. Such a sweetheart," Polyphemus said.

"I didn't pick any from Seven. I picked some from Eight, though. I picked Eleanor Cotton because Aimee likes her and so do I," I said.

"It will be good to see them together again," Polyphemus said.

"I also picked Demetria Rhye because she's young like me. I don't want the Victor to be too old. Then she won't want to play with me," I said. Demetria was almost as little as I was. I went on.

"None from Nine, because Nine is boring, but two from Ten. First I picked Angus Jenkins, because he's cute too. Maybe I'll have him marry me if Daddy doesn't mind he's poor," I said.

"A true Cinderella story," Polyphemus said.

"I also picked Calvary Warsaw because she's so strong and tough. She can be with Emma for a while and then she'll be my friend," I said. No one would give me trouble with her around, not that they did anyway.

"Only one left. One more lucky young winner with a chance to make your birthday the best one ever," Polyphemus said. A drumroll sounded and I waited a minute to make it extra exciting.

"Last of all, I picked someone who will make the Arena almost as pretty as me," I said, relishing my birthday splendor. "I picked Harmony Griffith. She'll make the Arena sing." The last name flashed on the wall and trumpets sounded triumphantly. The crowd applauded and roared until everyone was standing.

"There they are, folks! Panem's ten big winners! Wonderful choices, Rose. Whoever wins will be lucky enough to thank you personally. I can't wait to see who it is," Polyphemus said. I ran to the edge of the stage and scooped up a stuffed cat. I waved at the people and started gathering the others.

* * *

 **So there's who I picked. I thought Rose would want mostly people her age, because she intends to keep the Victor as a companion. She also turned out to be a little saucy and she knows what she likes in boys. I avoided Tributes from recent Games just because I didn't want to upend their development for a side story and they're all doomed anyway so I didn't want to do that to submitters. I picked Tributes who haven't seen action for a while so people would be familiar with them but their submitters likely aren't as attached. And of course Emma, since she's Calvary's bud.**


	3. Enter Calvary

**I have goofed (to no one's surprise, I'm sure). Harmony was from Nine.**

* * *

Calvary Warsaw

I botched it again, and they wanted to see it a third time. I was back in what looked like the same bed I woke up in last time I died. The doctor was different, though. For all I knew it had been so long the old one was dead.

"How are you feeling?" he asked.

"What do you care?" I asked back. They didn't do anything when I died twice. Now they pretended they cared about my health and wellbeing. "First do no harm" my butt. The doctor said something else, which I ignored. I turned away and faced the wall until he left. After a few minutes someone was at the door again.

"What now?" I asked. Then it clicked that it wasn't a doctor. I only knew one person who knocked four times, so softly I could barely hear. Looked like it hadn't been as long as I was afraid of.

"Come in," I asked, because I knew Cornflower wouldn't think she was allowed to come in unless I said so. She was like a vampire. I turned back over and to my surprise, she had someone with her, along with a dog.

"You got _married?_ And you're a cougar?" I asked. The boy she was with looked closer to my age than hers. I never in a million years would have guessed it of her. Cornflower looked at the boy in hopes he'd talk so she wouldn't have to. He looked shy enough that he'd stay quiet around most people, but he'd apparently known the present company long enough to know he had to pick up the slack.

"I'm Bambi, Ten's second Victor," he said.

"We finally got one, did we?" I asked. Bambi had a death grip on the dog's collar. Just Ten's luck that we got two wallflower Victors. I couldn't imagine how the Bambi even got mentored between the two of them being scared of each other. "What number is this?"

"Forty-three, and one was a Resurrection Games," Bambi said. So things weren't completely horrible. There were still some people that remembered me.

"Wait, this one's not a Resurrection Games? Oh no. What is it?" I asked. Did they bring me back to be some ghost or zombie mutt? Was I going to be used in an experiment too horrible to use people anyone could trace? It couldn't be good. Nothing good came of the Capitol.

"It's the new president's daughter's birthday," Cornflower said, and she actually looked excited. She always did seem younger than she was. She was probably thinking about confetti and cake.

"New president?" I asked. "Is she better than Galba?"

"He's wor- he's more authoritative," Bambi said. Which could have meant anything from "he talks louder than Galba" to "Avoxed for not praising him loudly enough".

"Wonderful. He brought me back for his daughter's birthday? What am I, a clown?" I asked.

"It's sort of a special one-off Hunger Games. Snow's daughter Rose just turned ten, so he let her pick ten Tributes to come back and fight. Whoever wins gets to be her... I don't know, governess?" Bambi said.

I always put survival first, but that was stretching it. I didn't want to be some spoiled princess's new toy. I definitely didn't want anything to do with her father. It looked like if I won, I had a life of tea parties and dress-up. Life sucks in Panem.

"Who else did she pick?" I asked. We both looked toward Cornflower, who was looking off to one side.

"Mei Cheung Rapure Kai Demetria Rhye Aimee Anderson Emma Wolfe-"

"Emma?" I interrupted. I expected to hear a bunch of names I didn't know and a bunch from decades past. I didn't expect to hear that name again. Emma was... not as bad as everyone else I'd known from the Games.

"Jonathan Wright Angus Jenkins Harmony Griffith Eleanor Cotton," Cornflower said, her monotone drone unbroken by my outburst. "Yeah, I thought you'd like her."

Life sucked in Panem, but I had a few things that weren't so bad. It was good that I hadn't woken up a hundred years in the future. It was nice to see a familiar face and to know that there was one thing that would never change. It would be nice to see Emma again, too. We were a strange pair- the urchin from Ten and the royalty from One. When we first met, I thought she was a shiftless snob. But somehow, we became friends in the Arena.

"Can I see her?" I asked.

"She's probably already training," Bambi said. I got up and went for the door. If Emma still felt the same way I did, I would know our friendship was forever. It would have lasted even past death.


	4. Training

"Okay, first is Rapture," I said to Emma. We were discussing the competition over lunch while we shot the breeze and caught up from being dead.

"He'll probably be the hardest. I've seen enough Careers to know his type. He's in for the game, not the victory," Emma said. It never crossed our minds to make another Career pack with him. It was hard enough for me to get close to Emma, and neither of us had any warm feelings for Rapture.

"He'll take care of a few Tributes at the Bloodbath," I said. That was the only thing he was good for. It was more kids I didn't have to kill. We turned his picture over and flipped the next one in the pile.

"Next is Mei. I hardly even remember her," I said.

"She was way before our time," Emma said. "She was your normal Three brainiac, but she didn't have much common sense. She died of an infection because she couldn't figure out how to keep her wound clean." I felt mean thinking it, but she wouldn't be competition.

"Jonathan Wright," Emma read the name off the next picture. I didn't even recognize the face. "Don't worry about him. She only picked him because he's her age."

"Most of them are. Rapture and us are the weirdos," I said. "She must have thought we'd be like a big sister. Lucky us."

"Who wouldn't want the princess of One?" Emma said sarcastically. She always hated that nickname. "There's Aimee. She's worse than Mei."

"Eleanor... she killed that big snake," I said. I remembered from a Games highlight clip from forever ago. "We should keep an eye on her."

"Maybe she'll take out Rapture for us," Emma said. We lingered on her for a moment, then went on. "Demetria. Rose is a cruel mistress. Demetria's more fragile than she is."

"Rapture's going to be delighted," I said.

"This one's Harmony. If she lives past the Bloodbath, she'll definitely get sponsored," Emma said. "Assuming that's allowed and assuming Rose doesn't send her favorite a tank. Rapture's probably too dumb to know that, so she has a chance."

"If he doesn't get her we will eventually," I said.

"Last one. Angus. Nothing to worry about there. His voice has barely changed," Emma said.

"So it's just Rapture, Eleanor, and maybe Harmony," I said.

"No," Emma said. "There's only one person to worry about."

"Who's that?" I asked. I was afraid she was going to say herself, and I felt cold. We'd bonded in the Arena, but there was no way to know how far it went. Emma was a Career. I'd killed my own share of Tributes. I knew friendship bracelets and sleepovers didn't change what happened on the last day of the Games.

"Rose," Emma said. "This is her Games. We're the players, but she makes the rules. Whoever she picks is going to win. So you better act cute. And me- I better be a pretty princess."

* * *

"Fighting in pairs is more a matter of what _not_ to do than what _to_ do," Emma said. We had an assistant, but he hardly had to say anything. Emma already knew how to fight. Fighting and winning was _all_ she knew.

"Whoever we're fighting- most likely Rapture- will know that the thing to do when facing two opponents is to get one in the other's way. We don't want that to happen, obviously. We want to work together so he can't block both of our attacks. Let's try it," Emma said.

Slowly, painstakingly, we made progress. It was somewhat uncanny to fight beside Emma. It was unsettling how good she was at hurting people. It was what they did in One, but it was still unsettling. She didn't seem to enjoy it, exactly, but it came to her so easily.

"Your instinct is going to be to slash," Emma started as we practiced with daggers.

"No, it's okay. I know this one. I hunted a lot at home," I said. The assistant looked off innocently at this implicit confession of illegal activities.

"Oh, yeah. I suppose you had to," Emma said. She hadn't know until we met how hard things could be in the outer Districts. Careers thought they were the only ones that fought for a living.

"Why are you teaching me all this anyway?" I asked. "We're going to be enemies eventually."

"Maybe because you never treated me like a princess. Maybe because I want you to win if I don't. Or maybe I just want it to be a good fight," Emma said. I felt the same way.


	5. Interview

_Tea party._

 _Tea party._

 _I am at a tea party._

It _is_ the Hunger Games, after all. It _sort of_ makes sense. I certainly wasn't hungry, what with the assorted dainties and petit fours arranged on an elegant floral platter on the white wicker table in front of me. There were some leftover crumbs itching at the bottom of my legs. Someone was a slob. Not naming any names, _Rapture._

I felt bad about snickering earlier when I saw Emma's outfit. She might have looked like a cake topper, but I looked like if someone pulled the bow on my back I'd say "mama". I had so many skirts I wasn't sure my feet were still attached. I had the cutest little crown made of woven daisies. I was about ready to throw up the exquisite hors d'oeurves. I pasted on a smile and faced the terror of Panem, the mistress of mayhem, the cutie pie of chaos... Rose Snow.

"How are your pastries, Miss Calvary?" Rose asked. The girl was really embracing the name. Her dress was twice as poofy as mine (some people are so flashy) and, naturally, it looked like an inverted red rose. I'd have expected pink, but there was more to Rose than met the eye. And red was, after all, appropriate.

"Very nice, Miss Snow," I said. "It was very nice of you to invite me."

"But you're not the only one," Rose said teasingly. "And that's what I wanted to talk to you about."

"Oh?" I asked. I took a dainty sip of flowery tea.

"Yes. I'm here to interview you. My first question is about last time. Last time, you died right at the end. Why do you deserve to win this time?" Rose asked.

 _Punk-ass brat, you're the one who picked me,_ I thought. "Oh, everyone died. That's why we're here. And I lasted a long time. Maybe I just need another chance."

"Very interesting," Rose said, and she clasped her hands on the table like a parody of her more serious and maybe more scary father. "This brings me to my second question. What's your favorite flower?"

"I suppose I should say roses," I said. "But you'd see right through me. I'd better tell you the truth. I like pansies."

"Why?" Rose asked. I did not expect to have to defend my choice of favorite flower. Luckily, I had an answer.

"I like the purple ones with the white centers. I just think they look so sassy, like if they were real, they'd walk around like this," I said. I put my hands on my hips and squared my shoulders. Rose giggled and I felt an absurd sense of pride for getting her to laugh.

"Third question. If you win, what's the first thing you'll do?"

"I'll hug my brother Dustin," I said. Then I realized what I should have said. "And I'll tell you thanks."

"You don't have to be a kiss-up," Rose said, and she gave me a wicked side-eye. I was starting to like this kid.

"This question is very important. If you weren't too late, since you were dead until yesterday and all, what would you get me for my birthday?" Rose asked.

"Whaddya want?" I asked automatically. _What even_ could _you want?_ Rose leaned back and put her hand to her chin in deep thought.

"Something really good. Something special," she said. _Thanks for the least useful clarification in history,_ I thought. I literally lived in a shack. I lived off barely cooked, still bloody meat I poached in the dead of the night. Maybe Rose wanted a nice beef rack?

"Okay, how about this. How about you come to my house after I win and I'll show you how to rope a cow?" I asked.

"You're a _cowgirl?"_ Rose asked. She leaned forward and her eyes shone.

"You know it," I said confidently. I slammed down another chug of tea.

There were only ten of us, all at the mercy of Her Royal Flutterbudget. That meant she could make the interviews take as long as she wanted. She asked me about my dress, and about the weather, and about the best color of rose. I tried my best to keep up and pitied the people in the crowd who had to watch the boring conversation.

"Whoever wins gets to be my friend. What would make you a good friend?" Rose asked.

"I'm pretty flexible," I said. "And just about anything we do will be super impressive to me because I basically live in a hut back home. We don't get out much," I said.

"Mm-hmm," Rose said. I got the feeling she was writing this all down for some sort of twisted performance review.

"I have a lot of important engagements, so I only have time for one more question," Rose said. "This is very important. Why are you going to win and not someone else?"

"I'm going to win because I'll do what it takes. I'm going to win because I have a great ally and nothing can stop us. This last one is very important. I'm going to win because I have to teach you how to rope a cow," I said.

* * *

 **CarlpoppaLOL has started a story based on the same idea but with different characters, so I thought I'd tell everyone here. She asked me if I minded (and I don't think I was the first to come up with the idea anyway). Hers is called 10 Deadly Sins.**


	6. Day Before the Games

There weren't any private sessions, which was weird but made sense. Sponsoring wasn't allowed for anyone but Rose, and nobody wanted to bet when the Gamesmaster was an unpredictable child. We still trained, but there were no sessions. The only one upset was Rapture.

"I feel like training is kind of useless by now," I admitted at breakfast. Rapture kept staring "sneakily" at us from across the room. He knew as well as we did that, barring Rose's interference, we were the only three possible winners. We caught him spying on us in the training room and started incorporating flashy but useless moves into our sparring. We'd save the real stuff for real fights.

"It gets to a point where you don't really learn anything new and you're just practicing," Emma said, and she shrugged. "The last few weeks of the Academy are like that. We all know who's getting picked. It's pomp and circumstance after that."

"What made you want to volunteer?" I asked. "Not that you're spoiled, but you sort of had everything."

" _That's_ why," Emma said. "I didn't know what the other Districts were like, but I knew how rich we were. I got everything handed to me on a platter. I wanted to do something hard to see if I deserved it. If I had to be a princess, I at least wanted to be a warrior princess."

"Are you all rich there?" I asked.

"No, we have poor people. At least I would have called them poor. I guess I don't know if they really are. To me, 'poor' meant a family of six living in an apartment, or walking to school because they couldn't afford the bus. We don't have anyone who needs to poach food," Emma said.

"We have rich people in Ten, but it's the same thing. I thought a guy in town was rich because he threw out his bread when it got stale," I said.

"Looking back, we're kind of snobs. We thought the outer Districts were a bunch of dirty farmers. We got most of our food from the 'dirty farmers'," Emma said.

"We thought One was a bunch of pretentious magpies. But we were right," I said jokingly.

"Obviously not, since I hang out with you," Emma said back, and we laughed.

After we were done training and we were back in Ten's lounge, we started to wax philosophical. Without the sessions, there was only one more day until we went into the Games. It was going by so much faster than usual on this, my third trip in. This time was (maybe?) my last chance to talk to Emma, and I wanted to get some things squared away. I waited for a lull in the conversation after we'd started discussing the Games.

"Hey... we might be the last two," I said. I let the unasked question hang.

"Yeah, I knew we were both thinking about it," Emma said with a serious and wistful face. "We had to say it eventually."

"It's probably a bigger deal for me, since you're a Career," I said, then hastily added, "Not that you're cold-hearted or anything, you've just probably already had to deal with it. But anyway, whatever happens, I won't be mad."

"Don't be too certain you'll get the worst of it. You outlasted me once before," Emma said. "What happens in the Games happens. Allies only last until someone decides she wants to live."

I wanted to say we'd be friends forever, and I wanted to believe friendship would stop us from doing to each other what we intended to do to everyone else. But it wasn't fair to ask that of her, and it was unrealistic to expect it.

"You're the best friend I've ever had," I said, discounting Dustin because he was my brother. "But I'm not delusional. Fuzzy feelings don't go that far. I'll be proud of you if you win, even if I come in second. I might scream and cry, but don't mind that," I said.

"I'll fight with you as long as I can. I'll confess something. If it's me that does it, it might not be as quick as I want. But it'll only be because my hands are shaking," Emma said.

With anyone else, a conversation like that would have made me abandon an alliance. But it was just honesty, more honesty than a lot of allies had. We were both the stars of our own stories, and both of us could only imagine one outcome. People were people. They wanted to live, and they put themselves first. If that made it so I couldn't be friends with someone, I'd spend my life alone.


	7. Into the Arena

I still felt alone when I woke up the day of the Games. A mentor couldn't win this for me, and neither could her strange friend. My allies from the first Resurrection Games weren't here this time. The only way Emma could win this for me was by dying. And Dustin was a long way away, and so old I'd barely know him.

I didn't get to see Emma that morning, just like it always was the day of the Games. I was ushered into a hovercraft and taken off to who knows where. I didn't need to get a tracker this time, since they'd thoughtfully implanted it right when they cloned me. The hovercraft touched down and seamlessly merged into a series of tunnels that guided me into the bowels of the earth, down to where the launch pads were.

For the last time (hopefully), I saw my stylists. They looked happier than usual, and I soon discovered why.

"You're just going to love your outfit," Claire said. She held up a blush-white dress with a scratchy-looking skirt and a flower on either sleeve. "This is so exciting. Arena uniforms never look this pretty."

 _Yeah, so exciting,_ I thought, but I didn't spoil their fun. They had so little brains. It wasn't nice to antagonize them. I hadn't gotten makeup the other times. This time they added pink lip gloss that tasted like frosting and white, powdery shimmers on my cheeks. They curled my hair and teased it up so it looked bouncy. That would definitely be useful in the Arena.

They all waved as I got into the tubes. Cornflower lurked by the door, peeking at me to see if I wanted to say something but content to keep lurking if I didn't. I waved back at them all and bounced my hair for them, pretending to care about their shenanigans.

The first time I almost threw up as I rose into the Arena. The second time it didn't feel as real. This time it just felt familiar. The Arena felt more like home than the Capitol. At home I had to fight and hunt to stay alive. I almost felt like I belonged as I rose into the air.

I expected something silly was awaiting me at the surface, and I wasn't surprised. Rose picked the Arena, and it looked exactly what I'd think a girl her age would pick for such an occasion. This was her birthday, and the Arena was her party.

There were party tables all around us, some of them covered in cakes and treats. To my left there was an empty roller-skating rink, and to my right there was a giant inflatable bouncy house. The chairs around the table were festooned with balloons. Behind me was a swimming pool full of floaties and plastic toys. Emma was two platforms to my left, looking at the scenery just like I was. Rapture was two platforms beyond her. Off in the distance, I saw a circle of ponies wandering inside a fence. Beyond that, there were other games and attractions scattered across a flat grassy plain.

There wasn't a Cornucopia in the middle of the circle, which was odd. The only thing I could see between us was a pile of thin sticks. An image shimmered into view in the sky. It was Rose, dressed in a blue party dress and wearing a crown of roses. She was smiling down at us. An announcer started to speak.

" _Happy tenth birthday, Rose! We're sure it will be the best one ever! Won't you all join in?"_

Music started to play, and I recognized the tune. There were a few notes to get everyone ready, and then we all did what we had to.

"Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you..." I sang along with the others. I didn't want to get exploded because I was being stubborn. I was just happy the announcer was the loudest so no one heard my sour voice.

As the music played, a hovercraft appeared above Rose's picture. Its bottom opened and it started to lower something toward us. It was rainbow and its edges fuzzed in the wind. When it was close enough for me to see, I actually laughed. It was the cornucopia. The cornucopia was a pinata. A donkey pinata.

The pinata lowered until it hovered seven feet off the ground. It settled into place as the song drew to a close. It was obvious the song was in lieu of a countdown, but none of us wanted to jump the gun, so we waited until the last word.

"Happy birthday to _you!"_ we sang. As the last word rang out, confetti shot from the ground and the hovercraft, clearly signaling it was time to start. And so we did.


	8. Bloodbath

Everyone reacted differently, and it would have been fun to watch if it hadn't been so serious. Emma and I ran toward the pinata and picked up sticks. As we whacked at it, I looked at what everyone else was doing.

Harmony and Demetria took off in opposite directions and darted into the distance like rabbits. Eleanor found Aimee and ran out past the tables. As she passed one that was loaded with cake, she grabbed the tablecloth and scooped it up like a sack, carrying the food with them as they went. I would have thought Rapture would be next to us, looking to get a weapon, but he took advantage of the lack of cover around the Bloodbath. He ran straight for Jonathan, who was next to his platform, and the first cannon sounded before we even got to the pinata. He killed Mei as we started to whack.

I was aware I looked like a total idiot hitting a pinata with a stick, but what I really cared about was how hard it was. I whacked at the donkey's ribs with all my strength and relished the feeling of the weakening... whatever pinatas are made of. Emma made the first crack and I crowded in next to her. I shoved my hand into the hole and ripped the donkey's belly open like a panther, sending party favors and little sandwiches raining onto the ground. Emma joined me in pushing the donkey apart, and it split in half with a louder crack. Only then did the bigger things, like swords and a tent, spill out like guts.

"Better run faster!" the sudden yell made me jump. I followed the sound to its source and saw Rapture running down Angus. The boy was a hundred feet from the Cornucopia and must have been running since the confetti shot, but Rapture wasn't giving up. Two victims wasn't enough for him. Emma and I watched as he closed the distance between him and Angus and knocked the boy forward. I knew from Emma that it was harder than it seemed to kill someone without a weapon, but Rapture had his ways. He grabbed Angus' hair and slammed his head onto a decorative cobblestone pathway. I heard the crack all the way from the pinata, and a third cannon sounded. Rapture looked out at the others, who were growing smaller in the distance. He bent over and huffed with his hands on his knees.

"Don't stop! Don't ever stop!" he taunted, and he laughed with his head back. He turned back to us and made his way toward the Cornucopia. Emma waited until he was within range and aimed a throwing knife at him.

"Better watch yourself," she said. Rapture stopped and smirked at us.

"Come on, I just want some weapons. We're both Careers. Be a pal," he said.

"Snooze you lose. This is our Cornucopia now," Emma said.

"What if I did this?" Rapture said. He took a step forward and Emma cocked her arm. Rapture waggled his hands invitingly.

"Bring it," he said. Emma laughed at him.

"Nice try. I'm not giving you a weapon," she said. Rapture scowled and made a rude gesture at her.

"Sticks and stones. But you don't have of those, do you? Because we have them all," Emma said. I hadn't really thought about it, but Emma was right. Together, we were the strongest pair in the Arena. _We_ were the Career pack. _We_ controlled the Cornucopia. All the wealth and prizes piles around me... they were all ours. We wouldn't want for anything.

"You're dead, princess," Rapture said darkly.

"Get out of here before I decide it's worth wasting a knife," Emma said. Rapture slunk off like a kicked dog, glancing over his shoulder at us every now and then.

"We're rich," I said as I looked at all our things. Rose was a generous host. Instead of the MREs and cans I was used to eating, she'd packed us party food in present-shaped containers so they wouldn't get jostled. We had deviled eggs and cocktail weenies and sweets of all sorts. There were bottles of soda and a tub of ice cream, which we'd sadly have to eat right away so it wouldn't melt. That just broke my heart.

"We could sleep there," I said, pointing at the bouncy house. Emma wasn't so sure.

"We're rich all right, but we're also stuck," she said. "Rapture isn't far. He may have ducked out of sight, but he's waiting for the moment we make a move. We better not move from this spot," she said.

"Yeah, you're right," I said. I bent over and started to fiddle with the tent Rose sent us. When I got it out of the box, I saw it was decorated to look like a castle. _Cornucopia Castle,_ I thought as I set it up. It was barely big enough for two people, but I had the feeling we'd never be sleeping at the same time.

"So the plan is just to chill here?" I asked.

"Rapture's even more pissed than usual. He'll kill everyone he can find. By the time Rose gets bored of us staying here, he'll probably be the only one left. Then I guess we'll fight it out," she said. It sounded eerily simple, but I didn't want to complain. Three people were already dead and we were rolling in supplies. The only thing I was worried about was how safe we were. If things went on like this, Emma and I would almost certainly be the last two.


	9. Genius

I should have seen it coming that it would be more dull than anything else this time. Rapture didn't want to attack until he had a good plan in place, and the others couldn't. We didn't want to leave our stash, so we hung out at the Cornucopia and shot the breeze. Sometime during the day, another cannon sounded.

"Probably Demetria," Emma said. "Rapture should think more carefully. If he kills all the people Rose likes, she might not want him after all."

 _Maybe she'll send a mutt after him,_ I thought. I wasn't sure what Rose thought about mutts. Maybe she'd send a dozen horrible clown mutts to clean the Arena up, or maybe she wanted to keep us around a while longer. If she decided she wanted someone in particular to win, she'd make it happen. We just had to hope the most spoiled, pampered girl in Panem wasn't going to change the Games in her favor.

"She said she picked you because you're a great fighter and really pretty," I said. "I guess one of those is true."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Emma asked.

"Whichever you want," I teased.

"Guess I must suck at fighting, because I _am_ beautiful," Emma said. She must have hated her outfit. It was a frilly, glittery, _princess-style_ pink gown.

There was only so much we could chat about. Before long we were terribly bored. Emma tied a rope to a spear and started popping the balloons on the tables around us. They weren't so far away that we couldn't walk to them, but it was more fun to haul the spear back and not even have to stand up. I joined in and she started doing trick shots. Then we were out of balloons and back to square one.

"I never thought the Games could be boring," Emma said.

"Must have been boring when Toby won," I said.

"And hot," Emma said.

More time passed. The sun started to get a little lower, and I wished it would hurry up and set so at least something would happen. Then I sat up suddenly.

"Oh my goodness, we're so stupid," I said.

"What do you mean _we?"_ Emma asked.

"We don't have to stay here," I said. "We just don't want Rapture to get anything."

"Yeah," Emma said.

"So let's smash all the weapons and get moving," I said.

"We _are_ so stupid," Emma said wonderingly.

There weren't as many weapons as usual in the Arena. There were only ten of us, and Rose wanted her birthday party to last a while. She must have favored swords, since there were six of them. There were two spears, one belt of throwing knives, and one bow. Rose had a weak stomach- there were no maces or clubs. Emma snapped the shafts of the spears and I got to work bending the four unneeded swords. Or trying to, anyway. They were sturdy and stiff, and I was afraid they'd snap back and impale me if I leaned too hard on them.

"Let's just bury them," Emma said.

"We _are_ so stupid," I echoed. I found a plate in our supplies and started shoveling out bits of dirt. Emma joined in and we excavated a pit large enough to contain the swords. Before we buried them, Emma picked one up.

"Know how in books, the characters always mash their swords together dramatically? That's actually super bad for them. It makes them dull and can actually break them. So let's have some fun with these and ruin them in case Rapture finds them anyway," she said. I picked up the other and squared off with her.

"En garde, varlet!" I said.

"You dare challenge me?" she shot back. We swung the swords straight at each other and they clashed. I winced at the shock in my hands, and the blades vibrated sickeningly. We smashed them together a couple times more, and a chunk of metal flew off of mine.

"I'mma show that platform who's boss," Emma said. She hit the dull metal platform over and over with her sword, and I did the same with mine. I felt the blade after a few minutes. It was like a butter knife.

"Well, these are now thoroughly useless," I said. We laid them in our pit, along with the spearheads. and smoothed the dirt over them. We piled some supplies on the spot to hide the discolored dirt and slow Rapture down in case he'd been watching us from some hidden spyhole. We snapped the leftover shafts into splinters so Rapture couldn't sharpen them.

"I feel so destructive," I said as we worked.

"I know," Emma said. "Isn't it great?"

"What about the other stuff?" I asked when we were done.

"We can take what we want in these," Emma said, holding up two floral-patterned party bags. She stuffed her arms into the sleeves of one and wore it like a backpack. "The rest we'll have to destroy."

"What food do you want?" I asked. The food containers were airtight and cool when we opened them, so they wouldn't spoil.

"Gimme them deviled eggs. I love them things," Emma said. I tossed her the container and started peeking through the others. I took some oranges, a platter of sandwiches with some sort of meat paste, and some pastries filled with chocolate. Emma filled her bag with more food and other supplies. We surveyed the rest and came to the same conclusion.

"What do you say we pig out?"


	10. Hi-O Silver

It was a valiant effort. We ate all we could, and we did some serious damage. What came next was almost as fun. As wasteful as it seemed, it had to be done. We took the rest of the food and trashed it. We smeared sandwiches across the pinata, stomped pastries underfoot, and tossed bits of cake into the air like confetti. We were a royal mess in our royal gowns.

"Ready to go?" I asked.

"I was born ready," Emma said. I wasn't sure if it was what Rose intended or not, but she would have been happy with what we did next. The Arena was flat and open. We weren't going to be able to stay out of sight, so it didn't matter how conspicuous we were. _That_ meant we were moving in _style._

"Way back when, only the best warriors rode horses," Emma said as she stood beside a skewbald pony. It was a huge advantage in battle. The horse was a weapon all by itself, since war horses were big enough to break through battle lines. Also, it meant the rider was above his opponent and could stab downward with gravity."

"Did the war horses look like this?" I asked, fiddling with the ribbons in my pony's brushed black mane.

"I don't think so," Emma said. I noticed her watching me intently and paused as I was about to jump on the pony's back.

"What, did I grow another head?" I asked. Then it clicked, and I looked back at her with a wicked grin. She read my thought and scowled as she started to blush.

"You don't know how to ride a horse," I said in a singsong tease. Only us bumpkins know that.

"I do so!" she said.

"So get on," I said. Emma glared at me over the horse's back as she tried to heft her leg over. She flopped onto it on her stomach and wormed her way over as the horse nibbled some grass. She pulled herself into position awkwardly and sat up, huffing.

"See, piece of cake," she said. I jumped onto my mount easily.

"Nailed it," I said. "And I'm _sure_ you know how to make it go."

* * *

Harmony Griffith

I'd be a good friend for Rose. I'd play with her and let her win and listen to her. I'd try to tell her about what we needed in the Districts, but I wouldn't be preachy.

It wasn't impossible. I had a real chance. There were six of us left after the cannon earlier. I knew Mei, Angus and Jonathan were dead. There were seven possibilities left, and some of them didn't make sense. Emma and Rapture were Careers. A Career wouldn't be a good friend for a little girl. Calvary wasn't anyone's friend. It was really down to me, Aimee, Eleanor, and Demetria, and one of them might already be gone.

If I won, I'd live in the Capitol. A lot of Tributes wanted to get back home, but I wouldn't mind leaving. I loved my family and I loved my District, but that was why I wanted to go. If I lived in the Capitol, the people there would see what people from the Districts were like. It would be harder to ignore us if they saw me every day. I could do so much good there for my District. I could send back money, and I'd be one less mouth to feed. I'd miss them, but it would be worth it.

I already had my talent all lined up. I was so happy when the Bloodbath was about to start and the music started playing. I sang as loud as I could, and I hoped Rose heard it. Her father might have been a monster, but every little girl should have a good birthday. It was wonderful to sing again, even if it was just a simple child's song. I'd sing for Rose every night if I won. I'd sing before bed so she wouldn't be afraid of the dark. It sounded silly when I first thought it. She had nothing to be afraid of. No monsters would come to her house. Then I remembered the monster owned the house.

I watched for the new face when the Anthem played. It was Demetria. Somewhere in the Arena, a little girl not much older than Rose was run down and killed by Rapture. Emma and Calvary wouldn't have done it. They weren't that cruel. I sang the words to the Anthem along with the music as it played. It might be my last chance.

* * *

 **Harmony got a bum rap last time, since she was in a voting Games and despite the odds, she was submitted with the only other singer I've ever gotten. So I gave her a POV so she could at least have a minute to shine. After this it's back to Calvary.**

 **This is off-topic but I wanted you all to know I published my first original novel on Kindle, so you all are welcome to look at it! It's under "Others" and has birds on the cover. It might not show up for a few hours since it just went up.**


	11. Party On, Wayne

Calvary Warsaw

It was eerie knowing what we were riding out to find. I'd killed before- and I'd _been_ killed before- but I'd never hunted like this. Emma was used to it, but I'd never felt the discomfort and dissonance that came from knowing I was actively seeking to hunt someone down and kill him. Rapture deserved it, but I didn't like doing it. I didn't mind killing _him._ I just didn't like killing.

"You don't have to yank," I said to Emma. She still didn't know what she was doing. I was glad these weren't war horses. She looked unsteady enough on the little ponies. "If you leave the reins loose, the horse will go by itself. It knows you want to ride."

"How fast do they go?" Emma asked.

"A horse has four speeds," I said. I nudged my pony and it shifted into a trot. "There's a walk, then a trot, like this." I nudged the horse again and leaned forward as it sped up. "This is a canter. You can see how it bounces different," I called over my shoulder as I made a big circle. "And gallop is last."

"Maybe canter is fast enough," Emma said.

"I always liked that one. It's so smooth and rhythmic," I said. After a few false starts, Emma got her horse going and we picked up speed.

It was fun just seeing the Arena around us. I didn't think it was a big as most Arenas, since it was only made for ten people and a party couldn't go on forever. We went past a bunch of carnival games and a water slide, then a flower garden. If it wasn't an Arena, it would have been a really cool party. Somewhere along the way, Emma tugged on her reins.

"What is it?" I asked. She was looking at a maze grown out of rose bushes.

"I heard something," she said. "Hold the horse?" I took her horse's reins to hold it steady as she slid off its back. She started toward the maze.

"Hold on, I'll tie the horses off," I said. I lead the ponies to the edge of the maze and looped their reins around a branch. We went together into the maze.

"This place reeks," I commented. Roses were nice, but there were just too many of them. I felt like I'd fallen into a perfume vat.

"Oh no, I just _love_ roses," Emma said angelically.

"Suck-up," I muttered. We marked our path with broken branches as we went. The maze wasn't so large we had to worry about getting lost, but I wanted a clear path back to the exit in case we ran into trouble. I'd read enough horror books about hedge mazes. But one time, as I stood up from marking our place, Emma was gone.

"Emma?" I called. Obviously Emma _didn't_ read horror stories. I was surprised it wasn't just common sense. You _never_ split up in this sort of situation. What if she- or I- ran into Rapture? She must have just gone ahead of me, thinking I was behind her.

"Emma?" I called again, but I was afraid to be too loud. I craned my neck around corners and turns, trying to look ahead in the maze. I searched the ground for tracks or broken grass.

I jerked back at the sound of the cannon. A bunch of birds outside the maze squawked at the noise. If someone killed Emma, it had to be Rapture. If it was Rapture, he was in the maze with me. I had to leave. I thought I heard someone moving somewhere in the maze, and I took off running.

"Calvary!"

It was Emma's voice. It sounded like she was on the other side of the hedge wall.

"I'm here," I said, and I wormed my hand through the wall. I felt her tap it.

"Hold on, I'll be right there," she said. I heard her footsteps get fainter and then louder. I saw her down the aisle and ran to meet her.

"What was that? Why did you go off alone?" I demanded. A scream interrupted my next question.

" _Aimee!"_ Emma raised her sword.

"Now we know where she is. We should take care of her next," she said.

"You killed Aimee?" I asked.

"I knew we were close. I saw the trail and knew Rapture wouldn't leave it. It was them or Harmony," Emma said. Eleanor was still screaming. "Come on."

"But why did you leave?" I asked, refusing to move until I got an answer.

"Would you have helped me?" Emma asked. I couldn't say I would have. Emma urged me forward again.

"Wait!" I said. Emma looked at me, waiting some dumb excuse. "She's really mad right now. She'll fight extra hard." I looked at the ground to avoid Emma's eyes, and I felt her looking at me.

"All right," she said softly. "Let's get out of here."


	12. Tyger Tyger

"How did it happen?" I asked after we'd made camp. We set up shop on top of the playground. We were high enough to see who was coming, and the metal play equipment would slow Rapture down if he attacked. I was hoping Emma would say Aimee surprised her, or she acted reflexively, but I was still afraid when she started to answer.

"I came down on of the aisles, and there she was," Emma said. We were sitting on an open platform on the playground, and she was eating an egg. "Her back was to me. She was smelling a rose."

"And you just killed her?" I asked. She didn't look away.

"You say that like it's a big deal," she said.

"How can it be so easy for you?" I asked.

"I don't want to die," she said. "I did it quick. You heard. She didn't even scream."

It occurred to me that Emma honestly thought killing someone quickly made it a good deed, or at least a forgivable one. And I could understand her, which showed me how much I'd changed since I left home the first time. It seemed hypocritical, but while I condemned the action, I didn't condemn her. From what I'd seen of Aimee, she was a sweet, friendly girl, and I was sad she was gone. But I wasn't sad she was dead, because that brought me closer to staying alive.

"You shouldn't have split off," I said, trying to talk about something less disturbing. "What if it had been Rapture after all?"

"You think I couldn't take him?" Emma asked.

"I'm sure you could, but things happen. He might have gotten lucky," I said.

"Then I wouldn't have to worry about us being the last two," she said. I could never tell what Emma was thinking. She was probably way ahead of me, but she hadn't killed me yet. She could have, if she'd wanted to. I had no idea what her endgame was. She knew what would happen if we were the last two. Maybe she was just waiting until Rapture was dead and I was insurance, but she seemed confident that she could fight him. And she _was_ better than he was. She didn't need me. And yet I wasn't nervous as I slept with her standing guard.

Aimee was the only face in the sky that night. Rapture was no doubt hunting for Harmony, and then he'd attack Eleanor. He wasn't patient enough to wait for us to do it, even though that would have been a better strategy for him.

I pretended we were going to hunt Rapture as we walked toward our horses. It definitely wasn't Harmony we were hunting. I'd tied our horses to a tree that bordered a flower garden. To my relief, there were no roses in that particular flower patch. The horses were grazing next to a cluster of hollyhocks.

"I think I'm getting better at this," Emma said. She went up slowly next to her horse so she wouldn't spook it, and it looked at her lazily as she untied it. I looked past her at the rainbow of flowers.

" _FU-"_

As soon as I saw it, the crouching tiger sprang out of the flowers, straight at Emma, who happened to be closer. My unfinished curse merged into a scream. Emma reacted unbelievably quickly, since she had a heartbeat to see the white, blue-striped tiger before it hit her. She ducked and twisted so it bit into her shoulder instead of her neck. It bore her to the ground and started shaking her like a doll. The ponies reared and whinnied in panic as they bolted.

Emma's clothes ripped and snapped under the tiger's movement. It jerked its head and the skin on her shoulder slid off like a sweater. I couldn't believe she wasn't screaming, until I saw her teeth were locked onto the tiger's ear. As I ran to help her, I saw their expressions were identical.

Emma was trying to get her sword, but it was squished underneath her by the tiger's weight. I took my own sword and brought it over my head with both hands. I smashed it onto the tiger's back, afraid that if I aimed at its head I might hit Emma. I felt the tiger's fur slowing my blade, and I didn't get nearly as much force as I'd wanted. The tiger thrashed in a coil, dragging Emma across the ground as it drew nearer to me. Emma tried to get her arm between her throat and the tiger's mouth, and I heard it snap as the tiger crushed it in its jaws. I stabbed it again in the side. It reared up and swatted me with a paw before I'd hardly seen it move. It didn't even let go of Emma, It just carried her along. Its claws dug trenches in my flesh and I felt like my face was broken from the force of the blow. It knocked me flat and I was thankful I didn't land on the sword.

When I got back up, Emma had her legs wrapped around the tiger so it couldn't rake its claws down her stomach. She was using her unbroken arm to try to gouge the tiger's eye. I brought my sword down on the back of the tiger's neck. It dropped Emma and hissed hotly as it turned and leapt at me. I barely managed to turn so it bit my free hand instead of the sword one. I felt its teeth crunch through my hand like paper, but it didn't hurt yet. I brought my arm back awkwardly and shoved the sword into the tiger's mouth beside my hand. I felt the blade slice into my finger, but then the tiger screamed and jerked its head away, freeing my hand. Emma grabbed its leg and yanked. It turned to her and shifted off balance. I shoved the sword into the tiger's eye. Blood and liquid smeared its gory face and it backed a step away, batting at me and snarling. As it reared to swipe, I stabbed it in the belly. It dropped down on all fours, and the movement dragged my sword deeper through its underside.

The tiger dragged itself closer to me, but it was slowing. One eye was ruptured and the other was bruised from Emma's attack. I jumped onto me and crushed me underneath it. It pulled up a leg to disembowel me, but it didn't have the strength. Its claws only tore gashes in my stomach. It tried to bite my face and neck, but I had the sword blade shoved into its mouth sideways. It bit at the metal and tried to push around it, but it only tore its mouth open in the attempt. Its attacks grew weaker, then stopped. It stirred weakly a few times, then stilled. Its full weight started to rest on my sword, and I realized I wasn't out of danger yet.

" _EmmaEmmaEmma!"_ I yelled in a panic as the tiger's weight brought my blade closer and closer to my face. I could barely push back hard enough to keep from decapitating myself. The tiger lurched sideways and its weight fell from me.

I got up and looked Emma over. She was drenched in blood and her bitten arm dangled from her side. Huge patches of hair were missing and her scalp was glistening red.

"Are you okay?" she asked.

"Hell do you mean am _I_ okay?" I asked. "You're falling apart!"

"It's nothing," she said as she sank to the ground.

"You got mauled by a tiger!" I said. I didn't think there was any way out of this. Our endgames dilemna was about to be solved.

* * *

 **Rose likes tigers. She also likes blue. So of course she sent a tiger to maul her favorite Tributes.**


	13. Party On, Garth

Emma would have died within the hour if it wasn't for Rose. Rose, the same girl who sent the tiger, sent the supplies for us to survive it. All we'd brought from the Bloodbath were some bandages. We didn't know how to use anything more complicated than that, and we didn't think we'd have to. We expected we'd either die in our only real battle- with Rapture- or one of us would be Victor. It was Rose who saved us both with her gift. She sent us cream that sealed the wounds and a sling for Emma's arm. Without the cream, I likely would have died as well.

It felt amazingly luxurious to receive such an expensive sponsor gift. But Rose could afford it. Rose could send anything. Rose was the master of the Games. If she wanted someone to die, she could send a bolt of lightning. If she wanted someone to win, she could send them a tank. She decided everything, and it was becoming clear to me that it might not matter who was strongest.

I'd been wrong about Rose. I thought she was a self-centered little girl who thought about the present, like most little girls. She was Snow's daughter. Even if she was nothing like him in temperament- and I didn't know if she was or not- she would be like him in thought. She was raised by a manipulator and master planner. Emma was way ahead of me in strategy. Now I knew Rose was, too. She picked us all as favorites, but she didn't sponsor all of us. She didn't leave a way for Mei, Angus, and Jonathan to escape the Bloodbath. She didn't make a way for Rapture to compensate for the fact that there were two of us. She could have made anything happen for anyone she favored, but she wasn't. She left it up to us. She wanted to see what we would do. She sent a tiger just to see if we could survive it. She was playing with us, and she was testing us.

It was possible this really was all just a game to her. A game is more fun if there's strategy and not just luck- if the winner gets there by merit and not because someone else was playing favorites. I wondered if Rose was fond of chess. Just like I didn't know what went on in Emma's mind, I had no idea what was going on in Rose's. If I became her best friend after all, it wouldn't be as boring as I'd thought.

Things were quiet after the tiger. She might have sent mutts after the others as well. I didn't hear anything, and none of them died. Emma and I stayed in our camp and tried to recover. I thought she might die on the first day, but after that, we started to knit. Whether Rose planned it, or whether she was a little girl who didn't understand the intricacies of anatomy, we weren't the same anymore. A sling held Emma's arm as the wounds closed, but it didn't bring her broken bones back into place. Her arm looked lumpy and misshapen, and she could barely move it. Slings didn't regrow severed nerves, either. My finger was stiff and immobile. It might as well have been severed.

We weren't the same anymore. We were damaged, Emma far more than I. I could see the Games shifting. When we started, the hierarchy was clear. Emma was strongest. Rapture was right at her heels. I was third, and Eleanor was fourth, and then the others. Now, it was a tossup between Emma and Rapture. If I wasn't Emma's friend, I would call him stronger. After that tie, I'd moved into second. Emma needed me more, and I might possibly be able to beat her. She hadn't mentioned the change in dynamics. I suspected she'd never admit she wasn't as strong as she was.

Five days went by without anything happening. We healed as much as we could and we discussed what we'd do when we were better. The cream accelerated the process, but it took time for Emma's back skin to regrow. She had to lie on her stomach for days to replenish the square foot of skin and bits of muscle that had been torn off, and what grew back was scarred and tender. I don't know what we would have done if Rapture had appeared.

Just before noon on the sixth day since the tiger, a cannon went off. We waited all day, hoping desperately that it was Rapture. The face was far too beautiful. The Arena had lost its songbird. Only the strongest were left. When Rapture was done hunting Eleanor, he'd have nothing left but us.

* * *

 **goldie031 is looking for female Tributes for her story Make Me a Match. I sent one in and I'm impatient as always to get started. I'll submit a dozen Bloodbaths if she'll let me, but hopefully you all will instead.**


	14. Joust

Emma was strong enough to ride again, but I knew she was still hurting. She was so damnably proud. She was the proud fighter from One, too proud to be called a princess and afraid that if she admitted she was hurt, she'd look like one. I was worried about her. She wasn't in top fighting shape anymore. She wanted me to think she was, and she'd act like she was if we got into a fight. She was going to get herself killed trying to prove she was still strong.

We'd been out looking for Rapture for two days. Either we hadn't crossed paths with us or he'd seen us coming and was laying low. Our horses gave us an advantage in height, but they were a hindrance in the stealth department.

"I'm going to call her Glissade," Emma said, petting her pony's mane.

"What, the horse?" I asked.

"A horse is a noble beast. She should have a noble name," Emma said.

"Trust a One to name a horse Glissade," I said. "Why not Sparklies? Bauble? Shinypoo? Or just straight up Expensive?"

"What's _yours_ named?" Emma sniffed.

"Bob," I said.

"What kind of name is _Bob?"_ Emma said in a scandalized tone. "You can't name a noble steed _Bob!"_ she leaned off her horse to look at Bob's underbelly. "She's a girl!"

"Oh now you're a horse expert?" I asked.

"Boys are the same all over and that's no boy," Emma said. I stroked Bob's mane lovingly.

"She looks like a Bob to me."

I kept an eagle eye on the flowers as we went past another garden. We were lucky to get away from one tiger alive. I didn't want to get anywhere near another one. We skirted around the garden and rode past a ring of neatly groomed ash trees. Something fell from the tree and I almost jumped off my horse, I was so nervous. But it was only a branch. A broken green branch that fell in front of Emma. It fell so quickly and seemed so innocuous that I didn't look closely until it was too late. It was inches above Glissade's face when I saw it clearly.

 _Party favors..._

All around the Arena, Rose had left bags of party favors. We came across them now and then while we hunted. They only ever had a handful of candy and a few little toys. They weren't enough for anyone to live on, so we just took any candy we liked and dumped out the rest when we found a bag. But Rose had invited boys to her party, and she put some toys in just for them. Toys like a green rubber snake. But it was too late to do anything.

The snake plopped down across Glissade's forehead and draped itself across her face. The horse immediately shied, tossing her head frantically and backing up a step. Emma screamed as Glissade reared up on two legs, throwing her to the ground. She landed hard and I was sure Glissade would trample her in her panic. Instead, the horse bolted, tossing her head and kicking wildly. Bob pawed anxiously and pulled at the reins with contagious fear.

Something else dropped out of the tree, something much bigger than a snake. I heard branches crackling as a huge weight shifted in the leaves. It was too late to do anything as Rapture plummeted out of the tree, holding a sharpened branch in both hands like a spear. He landed on top of Emma as she lay on the ground. His feet struck her stomach and the internal damage might have killed her if his spear hadn't done it quicker. The branch splintered under the force of his fall as it crunched into her chest. She cried out as he hit her stomach, and blood spurted from her mouth as the spear followed.

Rapture looked up at the sound of my scream. I hadn't had time to react to losing Emma yet, so it was all rage. I spurred Bob on toward Rapture. It was too late so save her but it wasn't too late to kill him. He took one look at the horse barreling toward him and fled. Emma stirred weakly as Bob neared her. I yanked on the reins and the horse jumped easily over her.

If Rapture had run for the tree, he might have had a chance. But he didn't think, and he ran across the grass. He could run all he wanted. He couldn't outrun a horse. He'd pulled out the spear to defend himself, but it was broken and blunted. He couldn't do anything without the force he generated by jumping from a tree.

I pulled my sword from its scabbard as Bob galloped toward Rapture. She was so fast I barely had time to get it out before we were beside him. Rapture tried to jump to the side, but I could still reach him. I swung my sword across him from Bob's back and slashed him all across his back. He tripped forward and almost fell as he turned around. I yanked Bob's reins to turn him in a tight circle. As Rapture vainly tried to flee, I closed the distance between us again and swept by him, slashing him again. On the next sweep, he tried to grab Bob's reins. I slashed his hand and nearly severed it. He was streaming blood from half a dozen cuts, and that had been his last desperate attempt. He fell to his knees, panting and wriggling.

I slowed Bob to a stop and regarded Rapture from ten feet away. I was going to kill him, but I was going to do it right. Not mercifully- I didn't care about that. _Right._ I wasn't going to make any stupid mistakes and I wasn't going to give him half a chance to get back up. He was half dead, but a half dead Career was still far too dangerous. I could dismount and finish him with my sword, but something might happen. I was thinking realistically. He was trained, experienced, and brutal. He could still kill me if I wasn't careful. Killing him with my sword would have been the easier way. But I couldn't afford it, and I wasn't sorry.

I backed Bob up and dug my heels into her side, urging her back to full speed. Her sides heaved at the exertion as we sped toward Rapture. I knew what she'd do when we got close to my victim. Horses were flighty, gentle animals. If they saw a human, they'd get out of his way. I waited until the last second, until the instant before Bob would have shied to one side to avoid trampling Rapture. Then I grabbed the reins and leaned back with all my weight.

The pressure on Bob's jaws coupled with the shift in balance made her rear. I tightened my legs around her to hold myself on her back as she went nearly vertical. She stumbled back a step on her hind legs to avoid overbalancing, bringing her front legs into position. Rapture screamed as he saw what was coming. But it was too late.

Bob's front legs crashed back down. Her silver horseshoes glistened in the sun as they arced down toward Rapture. Then their shine was dulled by flecks of red. Bob blocked my view of the impact, but I knew it was fatal. I heard the thud, and then I heard the cannon.


	15. Dying Moments

**I know horses don't stomp people because I almost got stomped once. Lucky for me horses are nice, even when they're stampeding. The rest I know because I have a skewbald pony named Chickadee.**

* * *

 _One cannon..._

It was obviously Rapture's. After Bob stopped stomping and shying, I could see his broken form under me. But if it was Rapture's cannon, Emma's hadn't sounded yet. She couldn't possibly live after what happened, but I had time to get to her.

I rode Bob closer and jumped off her back next to Emma. She was right where I'd left her, blood spreading out across the grass around her. She was pale, and I could tell just by looking at her how cold she must be. I knelt by her.

"Oh, good. I was afraid that was my cannon," Emma said, and she smiled. Her teeth were stained red. "Don't worry. It's nothing."

"Stop it! Just stop it! It's not nothing! You're dying!" I yelled before I could stop myself. "You keep saying you're fine. You're not invincible, Emma!" I was horrified when a tear slipped out. I told myself it was just because I was so angry.

"Maybe I'm not," she said. "Looks like you are, though." I had an impulse to try to stem the flow, but there was hardly any flow anymore. She was leaking away.

"You killed him," Emma said. "You're right. I'm not that strong. You're the strongest now," Emma said. I didn't know what to say. I didn't want her to die, but I did want her to be dead, in a way. I didn't want to lose her, but I wanted to be the survivor. And she would know if I said something untrue to comfort her. If I begged her to stay alive or said I wanted her to win, she'd see right through me. Her breathing started to hitch, and her chest heaved.

"You're almost there," she said. I waited for the sappy saying, like 'make me proud' or 'win this for me'. But she knew I'd see through her just as well.

"I hope you live," she said. Her breaths grew louder, and they were wet with blood. She choked and coughed up a cloud of blood. The air sighed out of her all at once, and she left with it. I laid a hand on her arm and felt the cold stillness as her cannon sounded.

I was a fool. I never had friends besides Dustin before. I thought of other people as nothing but potential betrayal and heartbreak. I didn't consider companionship worth the effort and risk of friendship. I broke my own rule when I met Emma, and I broke it at the worst possible time. I didn't want to risk losing a friend, so what did I do? I made my first friend in the Arena, in the only place I was guaranteed to lose her.

I'd known Emma such a short time. I'd learned so much about her, but there was still so much I didn't understand. She was a bundle of contradictions. She was born in luxury but disdained it and yearned for challenge. She was a Career immune to pity, a hunter who didn't spare children. But she stayed with me and I didn't think the idea of betrayal ever entered her mind. She was a trained, expert warrior, but she died as easily as anyone else. She seemed to me like a invincible soldier, but she was more fragile than she ever let on. Now it was too late to ever learn more.

I stayed back and watched as the hovercraft took her. In the distance, her muscular form looked tiny and frail inside the thick metal claws. The arms that killed so many dangled limply in the air. Her hair fluttered in the hovercraft's wind. She'd torn the extra skirts from her dress to free her movements, and the tattered edges flapped. I was just close enough to feel the breeze.

Emma was dead, and I was alone. We'd known it was coming, but we weren't ready for it. I wondered what would have happened if it had been me that died. When she was alive, Emma would have said she'd be sad for a bit and then move on. Before the Arena, I would have believed her. But I'd seen how she pretended to be tough on the outside even when I could see the blood gushing from a dozen wounds. She was the same on the inside. She may have gone on, but the hurt would still have been there. She was my friend as much as I was hers. I would go on, eventually. But for a while, I was going to sit by the tree and mourn my lost friend.


	16. Follow the White Balloon Road

Rose gave me what felt like three hours to mourn. After that, there was movement in the sky above me. I peered up from my position lying on the ground at a speck in the air. I thought it was a parachute, so I didn't move as it fluttered down.

It wasn't a parachute, but it wasn't a horrible disaster either. It was a red balloon. It descended lazily toward my head. I stood up and it slowed to a stop right above me. I started walking and it followed after me, hovering a foot over me. I grabbed the string and pulled it down.

"Uh, thanks?" I said. "But if you don't mind, it kind of gives me away. Eleanor's going to notice a red balloon wandering around." I stretched the rubber balloon thin and punctured it with my teeth. The air hissed out and it sagged to the ground. Another one appeared in the sky immediately and took the old one's place.

"Oh, okay. Never mind then," I said. It seemed I had a companion whether I wanted it or not. Then more balloons followed. They were all white, and they stretched out in a line before me.

"What? Oh..." I said. "I get it." Rose wasn't about to let me "rest" or "get over losing my only friend". She had two competitors left and she wanted to see them duke it out. So she marked my position and presumably Eleanor's, then marked out the trail between us. I was supposed to follow the bouncing balloons.

I was happy to have a distraction from Emma. I only had one more fight to win it all. Except last time, the final fight didn't end so well for me. Screw Tillo. This time, things were going to be different. After all I'd been through, I wasn't even scared. It was the home stretch, time to go big or go home. I wasn't looking far enough ahead to be scared. I just wanted to get it started.

I let Bob walk as we followed the balloons. She'd had enough excitement lately. I pushed one of the balloons, just to see what would happen. It bobbed in the air and moved back into place, and I had the urge to apologize to it.

If it had been a normal Arena, it might have taken days to get to Eleanor. But this one was much smaller than normal. As the sun was starting to set, I saw a blue balloon in the distance. Eleanor was behind a circus tent that was filled with party craft supplies. Her balloon was getting closer, so she was following the trail just like me. The area around her was full of other buildings and amusements, which made it closed-in and constrained. I didn't want to fight on a horse in a place like that, so I stayed where I was, in a clearing, and waited for Eleanor to see my marker.

When she came into view, she was carrying the broken leg of a chair. She saw I was on a horse and stopped.

"That doesn't seem very fair," she said.

"Yeah, well it's not fair that you're way buffer than me," I said. She shrugged.

"Guess I can't change it by whining. I'll just have to do my best," she said. I'd hoped she'd run out at me, but she wasn't dumb. She stayed by the tents, where I couldn't charge at her without boxing myself in.

I'd underestimated Rose, and I'd underestimated Rapture. I wasn't going to do it again. Eleanor was formidable. Her arms were thick with muscle from a life of heavy lifting in Eight. She was stout and solid and I knew I wouldn't win a fight on foot. I wasn't even confident getting close to her on a horse. If she hit Bob with her stick, especially near her face, she would shy and I might get thrown. If she hit me, she could easily knock me off. She was as strong as a bull.

"I thought it would be Emma," Eleanor said. "I'm glad it's not. Not after what she did to Aimee." Her eyes suddenly gained a dangerous glint. "That _was_ her, right?"

 _Strong as a bull._ I'd been about to say yes, but I stopped myself. I'd seen the destructive power of a bull, but I'd also seen what people could do to them. It was hardly ever done anymore, but my people had a tradition. It was traditionally done on foot, but there was a variant practiced on horseback. It was difficult, barbaric, and _extremely_ dangerous. It also required that the bull be angry.

"No, that was me," I said. Eleanor's eyes burned into me and she clenched her weapon tighter.

"What?" she asked.

"I killed Aimee," I said. What I was about to do turned my stomach. Most people didn't even approve of it being done to bulls, and it hardly ever was. And it wasn't only that. I didn't even feel right saying what I was about to say.

"I killed her. I snuck up behind her while she was picking a flower," I said, and I forced myself to smile mockingly. "It sure took you a long time to find her. She must have been lying there for hours. I bet it hurt."

" _Shut up!"_ Eleanor yelled. "You _monster!"_ She stepped forward, but didn't charge.

"I could have finished it quick," I said, and I paused. "But I liked to see her squirm."

That did it.


	17. Rejoneador

**Remember to submit to** goldie031's SYOT _Make me a Match_ so we can start soon!

* * *

Eleanor screamed and ran at me, holding her club high. I didn't even have to steer Bob. She didn't want to get whacked with a club. When Eleanor got close enough, Bob danced out of the way. I leaned sideways and swung my sword at her stick. She hit back so hard I almost dropped the sword. Her club splintered, but didn't break. There was still more than enough for her to do damage.

Eleanor was smaller than a bull. She darted back in close to Bob and swung her club at the horse's neck. Bob shied back and whinnied. She reared suddenly and I leaned forward, grabbing her mane as I almost toppled off. Bob bucked and kicked out her hind legs, unfortunately missing Eleanor, who pinwheeled her arms as she dove back out of the way. Bob backed away as Eleanor circled around us.

"It's okay," I soothed Bob. She was panicked, and it took all my skill to hold her in place. I'd woken the bull, that was sure. Eleanor was vibrating with anger as she came at us again. Bob moved to the side as I swung, and my sword only lopped off the tip of Eleanor's club. She was still armed, though now I could get close enough for the worst part.

People loved the spectacle and danger of the human in the ring with the bull. What they didn't care for was what happened to the bull. The fighter wasn't close enough to slay the animal cleanly, and the bull was so aggressive by then that it kept coming long after it should have. To win the fight, I'd have to hack the life out of Eleanor. Instead of a clean thrust, death would come by dozens on dozens of ragged, shallow jabs. It was a death unfit for an animal, much less a human.

I scored my first blow on the next pass. As Bob shied away from Eleanor, I stuck my sword sideways into her front. She moved back before I could get deep enough to kill her, but I saw the divot my strike gouged out of her flesh. She was torn open, like a beast. On the next pass, she was quicker than I was. Her club hit my hand before I struck, and I felt the bones break as the shock reverberated through the metal. But she was getting tired. She had to avoid Bob's hooves as well as my sword, and she didn't have the energy of a horse. Over a long enough distance, a person could outrun a horse, but this was a short burst of energy, and Bob wasn't tired from her time in the Arena.

I hit Eleanor again on the next pass. I hated the sound the tip of the sword made as it shoved into her chest. If she hadn't been so strong, I would have been able to get close enough to stab her through and end it well. But if she was able to grab my leg, she could pull me off the horse, and then it would be her game. I had to push down my revulsion and cut the flesh from her one spoonful at a time.

Eleanor's face was red and she was crying even as she screamed with rage. She was a terrible thing to behold. If anything went wrong, if I lost my balance for an instant, I might as well be caught underneath a bull. As I cut at her, I knew I would never watch a bullfight again. The pain and rage and gushing blood turned my stomach.

There was so much blood. Eleanor couldn't have much left in her. Yet she kept coming. She kept coming and swinging and trying to knock me off. Foam flecked Bob's mouth and I was afraid I would exhaust her. She swung to one side and knocked into Eleanor, almost knocking her over. As she regained her balance, I struck again. It was the dirtiest, most brutal fight I could have imagined. I wanted her to die just so I wouldn't be sticking her anymore.

Eleanor slipped on her own blood and fell. I could barely recognize her anymore, and I knew she was close to death. I shouldn't have, but I left caution behind and dismounted. There was no faking at this point. She couldn't stand. She didn't have the strength to pull me down.

I wanted it done. I wanted it done as quickly as possible. Any other time, I would have tried to kill her in a way that would preserve her remains as much as possible. I just wanted it done, and I wasn't even sure I could find most of her vital spots under all the blood and gore. I raised my sword over my head with both hands, the exact way Emma told me not to do, since it left your stomach exposed. It didn't matter now. I ended it the quickest way I could: by striking down at her neck with all my strength.

The cannon was a formality. Her head wasn't attached anymore. I hoped Rose enjoyed her new friend. The friend she just watched rip a girl to pieces with a thousand tiny cuts.

* * *

 **I knew for a long time I wanted Calvary to win by bullfighting. I thought she'd be on foot. I added the ponies because they're sometimes at birthday parties, but they turned out to be a cool addition and one I think I'll use in a normal Games sometime. After that it didn't make sense for her to dismount, so I looked up horseback bullriding to see if it was a thing and it was. They're called rejoneadors.**


	18. The Fabulous Prize

Most people would freak out if they woke up in a strange hospital bed. For me, it was Tuesday. Nothing to get excited about.

I'd won. That was something to be excited about. I was hardly even damaged from the whole affair. I had some residual wounds from the tiger fight and my hand was bandaged from where Eleanor broke it, but that was it. The Games had been shorter than normal and I'd had plenty of food, so the effects were minimal. I'd be out in no time.

I hesitated before peeking in the mirror. The Capitol could be weird. I'd seen Kazuo around the Capitol, and he looked way different then when we were in the Arena together. Tillo was a lot older, but she looked different too. They almost made her look pretty. And it was Rose this time. I would not have been surprised if I looked in the mirror and saw a cat face looking back at me.

 _You little terror._ At least it wasn't a cat. But Rose didn't have to mash my face all up and put it back together so I looked like her. Now we looked like sisters. I looked like a _Snow._ The horror... the horror...

A familiar four-rap knock sounded at the door.

"Oh, who could it be?" I said. "Why don't you come in?" Cornflower poked her head inside the door and slipped in like a ghost.

"What a surprise. It's Cornflower," I said. She didn't get the joke.

"Is everything all right?" she asked.

"Don't worry about me. I won, I'm pretty much all better, and I'll be getting up soon. It was rough, but I've been through worse," I said. She wanted to do her job, but I didn't need counseling or nursing- which was lucky, since she knew how to do neither.

"Okay. Good job and get better soon," she said. She went back toward the door. She jumped to one side and pulled her hands in suddenly, shying away as a little girl bumped past her.

"Calvary!" Rose yelled. She jumped on my bed as I hastily scooped up the tubes so she wouldn't yank them out by accident. "Do you like your makeover?"

"It's... great," I said. "We're like twins." The hardest part of the Games, I was beginning to see, wasn't the Arena. It was the prize.

"The nurse said I wasn't supposed to go in yet, but I said _I_ was the president's daughter so it was okay," Rose said. She settled herself on my bed like she owned it, which she did. "Now we can have all sorts of fun. But I can let you get better first. You're all stuck full of wires."

"Call me a pincushion," I said. Rose laughed. _That wasn't even funny,_ I thought.

You'd never guess what I was dressed in for the final interview. Never in a million years. I was... a flower. Not a rose, though. A beautiful pansy. I wore a lovely purple gown with a white skirt peeking out from under the purple stuff. I half-expected Rose to squeeze herself on the chair next to me, but to my relief, she wasn't there.

"Presenting the lovely Calvary Warsaw!" Polyphemus near-screamed into his mic. First we lost Seutonius, and now the new lady was gone too? I missed everything. But Polyphemus was still going strong. Probably the hairspray preserved him.

"She's wearing a stunning purple- oh, right," Polyphemus said, looking out at the audience that could plainly see me. "What are your thoughts on this very special Games?"

"Of course I'm super excited Rose picked me. I couldn't have been happier with the Arena she picked. And I'm happiest of all to get to know her better," I said with my fakest smile. My fakest smile fit perfectly in the Capitol.

"Are you sad about Emma?" Polyphemus asked. _What the heck? No, I'm happy. I always hated her._ I was glad I was so mad and surprised so I wouldn't be sad. I knew she'd understand what I was going to say next.

"She was a good friend. But now I have an even better one," I said. _Sorry, Emma._ I could feel her laughing at my bullshit from wherever she was. Maybe she went up? Sure, she killed kids, but she wasn't _bad._

The recap was nice and short. All the real action took place over three days. The rest of the footage was mostly unused, since it consisted of me and Emma eating bonbons and deviled eggs and the others wandering aimlessly. I liked the part with the tiger best. I looked super cool. I didn't feel that cool while it was happening. I heard someone in the audience vomit during the final fight.

"That was... thrilling," Polyphemus said when it was done. His throat pulsated and he swallowed, putting his hand to his mouth and grimacing. "I'm sure you're ready to move on to happier things."

The Anthem blared again, and for the first time in the three times I'd been through the Games, I saw Snow walk down the aisle carrying a crown. Not Coriolanus Snow, though. Rose Snow. Wearing- of course- a matching pansy gown. And instead of a crown, it was a _freaking party hat._ A cone-shaped white party hat with a string to hold it in place and a row of alternating roses and pansies along the bottom. Rose swept down the aisle, drinking in the applause and adoration, and stood on tiptoes to place the crown on my head.

"I hereby declare you the winner of the Hunger Games and my new best friend," Rose said. There was only one thing to do. I picked her up, slung her onto my back, and walked offstage carrying her piggyback, with her waving to the audience behind us.


	19. Home Again

Rose invited herself to my initiation. Rose had invited herself to everything I'd done lately. I was only grateful that she left me alone in the bathroom. I thought about asking to go to a bar just to mess with her, but I wasn't that mean. Not that it would have stopped her from coming. I probably would have gotten in trouble if I brought the president's daughter back home puking everywhere.

Instead, I had us all go visit Emma's grave. It took a while to plan, since it was in another District. Victors were discouraged from traveling between Districts, but they didn't mind if we didn't get crazy with it. Most of us had no reason to go, and half of us were agoraphobic.

I was a little resentful that Rose came along. She was the reason Emma was dead. But when I thought about it, Emma had been dead before that anyway. Rose could have saved her, it was true, but she didn't make her any more dead than she was before. I wondered how it would have turned out for Rose if Emma had won. I was sure she would have played the part, but Rose might have discovered a killer wasn't a good friend for a little girl.

I brought a wildflower for Emma's grave. It was a plain flower, not a princess's flower. I _would_ have said something profound or emotional, but Rose was right next to me, holding my hand and cramping my style. It was a good thing I'd gotten all the deep stuff out in the Arena.

I was also a little resentful seeing Tillo again. We didn't get along well last time. After I'd paid my respects, I slipped away while Mars was playing with Rose.

"Hey! What are you doing here? You _killed_ me!" I said as I poked a finger at her.

"You want an apology?" she asked, clearly not volunteering one. I paused.

"Not really. I'm just mad," I said.

"Me too," she said. In a fairy tale, we would have become best friends. In real life, we just didn't kill each other again, and that was as friendly as we ever got.

* * *

I'd finally gotten to go home. Naturally, Rose followed me. I don't know what she expected, since Dustin and I lived in a shack. While he ran out to meet me and I tackle-hugged him, Rose stared in shocked distaste at our house.

"You live in the barn?" she asked.

"We live in the _house,"_ I said. "Welcome to Chez Calvary." I swept out an arm grandly.

"That's a house?" Rose asked again.

"Sure is, squirt," I said.

"Are you poor?" she asked.

"Not around here. We're just normal," I said. She looked around our dumpy abode and its bare surroundings as I caught up with Dustin.

She perked up when she saw the horses. Not that Dustin and I had ever been rich enough to own horses. Snow sent them before Rose came and told us to pretend. For free horses, I'd play along.

"Which one do you like?" I asked, hoping Rose would pick the short pony Snow obviously intended for his short daughter.

"That one!" she said, pointing at the pony. I breathed a sigh of relief and was glad Snow was smart enough to send one dingy brown horse and one sparkly white pony with a pink mane.

"Good choice. This is Petal," I said, thinking on my feet. "What do you say we learn you how to ride?"

It could have been worse, all things considered. Snow didn't want a smelly District kid living in his palace, and he certainly didn't want his princess living in a hut. So we worked it out that Rose would come visit Ten for day trips whenever she wanted and I'd spend every third week with her in the Capitol. I may have been her newest and favorite toy, but she had other things to keep her busy. She didn't need to be with me all the time.

"Didn't you ride back home?" I asked as I helped Rose. She was less skilled than I'd expected. Surely the princess had tutors and fine Arabian horses.

"I wanted Dad to teach me, but he kept saying he was busy," Rose said.

"Oh. That's too bad," I said. I'd underestimated Rose again, or maybe I'd overestimated her. I thought of her as Snow's daughter- the little girl taught everything she knew by a tyrant. But as she sat on Petal, her legs dangling and her face bright with glee, she just looked like a girl. She was Snow's _daughter,_ not Snow. No doubt she was influenced by him. She wasn't some naive angel who knew to ignore the lies and ambition he was drilling into her. But she wasn't _only_ that.

I felt the strangest sort of pity as I walked next to her, holding Petal steady. She had it all, but she'd missed out on so much. She didn't know about hard work or how a community came together to slaughter the livestock or care for someone whose house had burned down. She didn't know what it was like to have a brother who loved you so much he sold his shoes to buy you a box of crayons for your birthday. She didn't know about achieving anything for yourself and knowing you'd really earned it. All she knew was the Capitol, and her father, and riches and adoration. I didn't know who she really was, because she never got a chance to find out. She was just Snow's daughter, the little princess. Always Snow, never Rose.


	20. Epilogue

I settled into my new niche. I wasn't quite like anyone else in Panem. I was a category all my own. I was a Victor, but it wasn't a conventional Games. It didn't have a number. People hardly ever talked about it, since it wasn't as big a deal as the normal Games. Whenever they had to call it something, they called it the Birthday Games.

The other Victors didn't care. We all had so much to be guilty over and proud of that we hardly ever distinguished between ourselves. The Careers tended to stick together, but that was more a personality matter than anything. That and half the others were afraid of them. Cornflower was happy I won- mostly because it meant she didn't have to mentor anymore. I wasn't assuming the worst about her, either. She straight up told me, since she was honest as a spin-shined mirror.

I hadn't anticipated how much I would appreciate being back with Dustin. He was older, sure, but he was always older than me, so I didn't care. It weirded me out at first that he looked a dad and not a brother, but he still acted the same. Before Emma, he was the only person I ever bonded with. Now I had Rose, too, but that was forced. Dustin was my only safe haven, and I treasured my time alone with him.

Rose was very pleased when we moved into the Victor's Village, since it meant she didn't have to come to the shack anymore. I only wished it was quieter. Bambi and Cornflower were always throwing raucous parties.

I was lucky- I didn't have to come up with some bogus talent. As far as Snow was concerned, I belonged to Rose. As far as Rose was concerned, we were best friends. As far as I was concerned, I'd toe the line while I was in the Capitol and I'd relax when I was back home.

It wasn't as bad as I thought being Rose's friend under penalty of death. I wasn't sure why she'd done the whole thing, though. She had to be the most popular girl in the country. She didn't need me.

"So why'd you do the Games anyway?" I asked once while we were coloring together. "You must have a million friends."

"They're not _real_ friends," she said, still bent over a half-drawn castle. "They just want to see my house, or their parents made them come so I'd like them, or they're scared I'll be mad if they won't play." So it wasn't just Snow in there. Rose knew what was going on. She knew far more than her father probably suspected. I should have kept my mouth shut, but I was starting to think Rose wasn't just her daddy's stoolie.

"You think whoever you brought back to life and claimed as a prize would be a real friend?" I asked.

"You pretend, at least. And you won't leave like the others. They always leave when they know I won't get mad, but you won't ever leave, because you're mine," she said.

 _That's not creepy,_ I thought. _I thought slavery was illegal now. Except Avoxes. They don't count... somehow. But dang, that sucks. You can't get a friend unless they're literally forced? You're the reason I'm alive, even though you only did it for yourself. I can suck it up and play tea party once in a while if that's how lonely you are._

"I asked my dad why you're all so poor in Ten," Rose said. "I was going to ask if he could help. He said it's not his fault. He said it's because you're so simpleminded."

 _Oh, is_ that _why?_ I thought. _Why don't you tell him to go-_ That wouldn't solve anything. Rose wouldn't even believe me if I said that wasn't the reason. She was smarter than the grownups knew, but she wasn't going to see through a lifetime of lies because I courageously showed her the light.

"If you had this idiot cat that always knocked his food bowl over, would you stop feeding him?" I asked.

"No," she giggled.

"Then maybe it's not important how dumb we are. We're still hungry," I said.

"Yeah," she said thoughtfully. I stopped there. If I ever _did_ get her thinking against her father, I didn't think he'd spare her out of love. He didn't have any. Rose looked at me with a most peculiar expression. It didn't fit with someone of her stature. She looked vulnerable.

"Even though you have to be my friend, do you like me at all?" she asked. Trust Rose to ask something way beyond my ability to answer. And it had to be an honest answer. She was a smart kid.

"I didn't at first. But I didn't really know you. I may be your kept woman, but you know what? I'm glad it's you," I said. We were in it together. I was stuck with her because I couldn't leave, and she was stuck with me because everyone else left. We were a couple of last resorts, and by default, we were becoming friends.

* * *

 **And now Calvary is in her proper place. By that I mean the Victor's Village, not being with Rose, but she's making that work, too. This was Calvary's story, but I'm happy with how Rose grew too. She's still just a little girl and she's still her father's daughter, but this new perspective is going to affect her. Perhaps there's a reason Snow's granddaughter's mother was never mentioned.**

 **Now that this is complete, next up will be a conventional SYOT. I have the files ready and I'll put up a name as soon as possible so I can add it here.**


End file.
